Nenagh CC Updates

There are still 2.5 weeks left till our official off-season training begins on Saturday, October 1st. We hope everyone is enjoying the break from structured training. Just be ready and motivated for some hard work this winter.

Best of luck Darren ‘Donkey’ Dunne

Donkey Dunne has taken a fair bit of abuse from everyone in the club over the years but there comes a time when you have to take your hat off to someone and appreciate what they have achieved. Darren first started off cycling with the club at 14 and has had a love / hate relationship with the bike ever since. He has used every excuse in the book to get out of training sessions. But he stuck at it and has now been rewarded with the honour of representing his country at a junior elite level at the Triathlon World Champs in Mexico this coming weekend. It doesn’t come much better than that. We might even have to stop calling him Donkey now.

This is only the start of what is ultimately possible for Darren. It is great for him and his family but it is also great for our club and shows what is possible when we put the effort into training and helping our youth members. No pressure Denis and Daniel, but if ye don’t make the elite junior cycling world champs then ye will have been a crushing disappointment to us all (blame Donkey). Hopefully one day we can all look back and say that we used to train with / hammer Donkey on the bike.

Best of luck in Me hi co!!

Junior Cycling

Our 6 week junior cycling training programme kicked off last Saturday in the CBS. Ronan O’Driscoll and Geraldine Kyne were there to coach the next generation of Denis Allens and Daniel Yon Hins in the club. This cycle was for youth cyclists aged between 7 – 12. This training continues at 12:30 next Saturday in the CBS. If you have a son or daughter that might be interested then drop them up to us in the CBS.

Race Results

Charleville 2 Day: fair play to the 4 club members that took part in the final stage race of the year. It has been a long tough year so ye did well to last to the end. Although the lads came away with no points or prizes they did gain much needed experience which they will use to their advantage next year. In the main A2/A3 event, Eamon Hartnett, Eoin Woolley and Denis Allen took part. Denis was our top performer. He was aggressive throughout both stages but both stages finished in bunch sprints so he gained no time. A decent TT effort set him up for a top 20 finish overall. Eamon and Eoin finished in the bunch on Saturday but got distanced on the hills on the 2nd day. In the A4 race, Will ‘Pretty Boy’ Rymer was making his stage racing debut. He finished in the bunch on Saturday and put in a solid performance in the TT. Like Eamon and Eoin though, Will got distanced on the hills on the last stage. Plenty of hill training needed over the winter months from the club!! Great stuff lads.

Get Up to Speed Cycle

We had 20 riders out on the road last Saturday. There were 6 newcomers to the bunch, with some able for the main bunch and the rest opting for the Get Up to Speed bunch. We learned the fundamentals of riding in a bunch and practiced climbing a hill and the technique for rolling over. It was a good workout and everyone was well able for it.

>> All newcomers should try to get out at least twice a week over the next few weeks. The ultimate aim of this programme is to enable you to cycle with the main bunch. To do that we need to increase our speed and endurance a little each week. Cycling once a week is not going to get you there.

Next Saturday’s training session will be pretty much the same so if you are a newcomer to the club or an improver then make it your business to be there. If anyone knows some cyclists that might be interested in this then drag them along too. There is no point waiting till January to start with us as the speeds will be a lot faster then and it would be extremely hard to manage the pace in the bunch. Now is the time to get started while we are all taking it easier for a few weeks.